


sometimes you have to just take a leap of faith (and go down a ridiculously tall helter skelter with a man you've just met)

by JaeRianL



Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Blind Date, Developing Relationship, First Dates, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Fun fair, M/M, Matchmaking, Meet-Cute, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-07
Updated: 2021-03-07
Packaged: 2021-03-13 21:40:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29907465
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JaeRianL/pseuds/JaeRianL
Summary: You know the saying: “if it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck, chances are it’s a duck”? Yeah, well, Hunter’s sure that he’s being set up here. Although, he can't honestly say he minds all that much.
Relationships: Bobbi Morse/Jemma Simmons, Leo Fitz/Lance Hunter
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	sometimes you have to just take a leap of faith (and go down a ridiculously tall helter skelter with a man you've just met)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Kevdog22](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kevdog22/gifts).



> This is based on the [ moodboard](https://acetoshikosato.tumblr.com/post/644111468020875264/fitzhunter-meet-cute-funfair-au) that I made for Kevdog22's birthday!
> 
> Also, this isn't explicitly stated but this is set in someplace in Britain, and is loosely based on my own experiences with funfairs that used to come to visit my hometown when I was a kid.

Hunter is ninety nine percent sure he’s being set up. Like, he knows his love life hasn’t been looking all that prosperous since his split from Bobbi, but it hadn’t mattered before. That is, before Bobbi had met her new British bird that clouded her vision with rose-tinted love hearts wherever she looked. And now it seems like he can’t go two seconds before being harassed about finding a partner to share his life with. Not to mention the pity stares he gets after disclosing his not so shameful walks of shame.

So really, he probably should have taken Bobbi’s invitation to the travelling funfair with a pinch of salt, but he’s nothing if not a good ex-boyfriend, willing to comply for sake of ease if nothing else. But in his defence, she had promised to willingly pay for one unhealthily sweet treat and not make any comments about how bad it is for him, and he is just a man who is very easily controlled by his stomach. They’d even driven together, Hunter managing to fiddle with the car radio for almost fifteen whole minutes before Bobbi snaps and allows him to use the AUX cord, a relatively peaceful encounter of theirs if he does say so himself.

However the moment they park the car and pay the admission fee, Bobbi is sprinting off ahead of him, causing him to chase after her, internally cursing the day he’d met the blonde she-devil. Thankfully there aren’t many tall blonde women bordering on six foot tall in the fairground, meaning that he manages not to lose his best friend in the crowd. He stumbles slightly when she stops dead in her tracks and is very nearly bowled over by what he can only presume is a tiny British battering ram, the girl clinging to Bobbi’s waist so tightly Hunter cannot be sure she hasn’t cracked a rib. Eventually their reunion drags on for slightly too long, and Hunter awkwardly clears his throat, nodding at the curly haired man gently rocking back and forth on the balls of his feet.

“So, care to introduce us?” Hunter asks Bobbi snarkily, smiling at her girlfriend when she detaches herself from Bobbi’s chest for long enough that he gets to see his ex’s new partner.

“Fine, Lancelot, this is Jemma and her friend Fitz.”

“Shut it Barbara.” He hisses out, furiously glaring at her. “Just call me Hunter.”

“Sweetheart, you never told me your name is Barbara.” Jemma says, smiling sweetly at the taller woman much to Hunter’s bewilderment. “It’s lovely to meet you Hunter, Bobbi has told me so many wonderful things about you.”

Although Hunter sincerely doubts that statement to be true, this Jemma seems much too smiley to be a liar so he’ll take the compliment. Offering Fitz a hand, he grins when the shorter man takes it, and Hunter has to admit he doesn’t mind the sensation of the calluses on Fitz’s hands brushing against his own. Shaking himself from those thoughts, and definitely not missing the smug, self-assured smirk he notices Bobbi pull, Hunter glares at her before pulling away, finding that he somewhat misses having the man’s hand in his. God he sounds ridiculous just thinking this.

Either way he doesn’t have long to mull over his rapidly spiralling inner thoughts because soon enough Bobbi and Jemma are making a “subtle” exit - by that he means literally sprinting off in the opposite direction and yelling for them to not wait up. Sighing heavily, Hunter turns to Fitz, the younger man looking lost now that Jemma has gone off to make out with her girlfriend, and does the only thing he can think of. Asks him to join him for the day in this no way near romantic setting with alone time which has been constructed by their best friends who, at least in Hunter’s case, have been doing their nut in about getting into a new relationship.

For a moment Hunter panics, mentally berating himself for doing something so daft when he could have just as easily taken off back to the car park and waited there, but when he notices the Scot’s bright blue eyes light up at the suggestion, a smile painting his previously confused face, Hunter can’t bring himself to rescind the offer. Instead he gravitates towards the man and motions towards one of the nearby food trucks, which looks like a rainbow quite literally vomited on it. But the line is long enough to prove its popularity, and with the emotional whiplash he’s been through, Hunter is sure that he deserves a sugary treat.

It takes him a minute to choose just what it is he wants from this sugar monstrosity cart but eventually chooses a candy floss ice cream cone, with Fitz going for a slightly less sickly looking nutella flavoured bubble waffle. There’s a brief moment where it seems like they’d both argue over paying, but for someone so sweet and innocent looking, Fitz’s glare packs a punch, leaving Hunter off kilter enough that Fitz can pay for their food without any arguments. They mill about the fun fair together, talking about ones they’d been to as children and reminiscing on the days where these places weren’t seen as money traps destined to break the bank and achieve little else.

After a couple hours of wandering around in the unusually hot summer sun, they take a break and sit on the field, Hunter laying his jacket on the grass for Fitz and him to sit on. He finds himself paying less attention to the words coming from the Scotsman’s mouth and more on the man himself, eyes darting from the slightly reddening cheeks to the golden curls on top of his head to the crystal blue eyes full of mischief and excitement as he relays another story about him and Jemma and Bobbi at work. It’s only when Fitz gently nudges him and takes Hunter’s hand, piercing eyes seeking out his attention when he’s drifting off into his daydreams.

Shaking himself, he smiles at the Scotsman and links their hands together, pressing a kiss to his knuckles before pulling away slightly and motioning for them to go on the rides. Grabbing his jacket off of the ground, Hunter offers it to Fitz, who drapes it on his shoulders before leading him through the crowd of people towards the main attractions. They first head to the bumper cars, Fitz deciding to get into a separate car, the determination on his face would be both adorable and endearing if it wasn’t for the fact that every time he crashes into Hunter he cackles mischievously at the older man’s forcefully grumpy frowns. After one go on the bumper cars Hunter drags Fitz away, not trusting the younger man’s borderline sinister grin as he edges towards the guy running the attraction, bouncing on the balls of his feet.

Instead he leads the man over to the shooting games, having noticed him eyeing up one of the stuffed monkeys attached to the side of the gazebo thing when they’d done their first loop of the fairground. He drags him over, ignoring his cries that he could simply buy a toy monkey for himself rather than waste Hunter’s money, instead he confidently hands the game runner a fiver and picks up the weighted gun, shifting it into the right position with ease. Confidently, he shoots each of the targets, dead centre, and smirks at the gobsmacked teenager before him. Rather than wait for the kid to give him permission, he leans over the counter and grabs the monkey, proudly passing it over to Fitz who looks at him with awe.

Clinging to the toy with one hand, and the other wrapped around Hunter’s waist, Fitz cheerfully makes his way through the crowd, totally oblivious to the dirty looks Hunter is glaring at in his defence. Not, mind you, that Fitz would want to notice, not when he’s this close to Hunter and feeling as calm and as at peace as he does in the man’s embrace. After a few more minutes of walking, they stop in front of the bright orange helter skelter, the tall structure no longer attracting everyone and their mother to queue up and wait for a go. They share a look, and silently decide to get in line while it isn’t busy, and continue to exchange stories and tidbits about themselves, moving closer to the ride on autopilot, neither man paying much attention to the world around them.

The ride manager passes each of the men a mat to slide down on, and after some kid comes speeding down the slide, she motions for them to head on up the stairs, the pair unwillingly separating when they see that it’s only large enough to climb it single file. But their journey is soon worth it, and as they make it to the top, slightly breathless from just how many stairs there were, they take in the view, Fitz wincing when he looks down.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Hunter says reassuringly, rubbing the shorter man’s back.

“Logically, I know that. But, uh, me and heights aren’t exactly best mates. I’ll be fine, I promise.”

“Are you sure? We can always go back down if you need to, no biggie.”

Fitz shakes his head mutely, and rather than turning tail, he leans into Hunter, pressing their lips together in an incredibly gentle kiss that is so sweet and all consuming despite it’s tame nature. They soon pull away when they hear the ride manager shout that they can go now, with Fitz’s ears tinged a soft pink that has nothing to do with the sunburn emerging on his cheeks. He settles himself onto the coarse mat, clinging to the monkey he’d internally named Gawain, and is seconds from sliding down when he feels Hunter settling down behind him, his arms braced around Fitz’s waist, his breath tickling Fitz’s neck.

“You ready?” He asks kindly.

Fitz can only nod in response, and with his free hand, he pulls them down the slide, giggling hysterically when they speed down the slide, the world passing them by before finally coming to a halt as they stop in front of the woman managing the ride, who ushers for them to move out of the way as quickly as possible, taking their mats as they leave the ride. However, whatever adrenaline Fitz had managed to obtain in the ride down is rapidly waning and he finds himself leaning onto Hunter, the older man taking the brunt of his (albeit very limited) weight without complaint, just brushing the hair out of Fitz’s eyes as they leave the field housing the funfair for the week. He misses the adoring stares from Hunter as they make their way to his car, where the pair find their friends making out on his car bonnet. Hunter briefly leans in to warn the man of the loud noise before setting off his car alarm, watching as the women jump off the bonnet in shock, Bobbi cursing Hunter out until she notices his current predicament.

“Don’t you say a word Barbara, you still owe me sugary food for ditching me, even if it was to leave me in far better company than yourself.”

Turning his attention back to Fitz, he urges the man to take his phone out so they could exchange numbers, Hunter texting himself using the Scot’s phone before leading him over to Jemma’s car, the brunette looking somewhat chastised over leaving them alone with one another despite neither of them knowing each other. Carefully, Hunter maneuvers Fitz into the car, pressing a gentle kiss to the man’s curls before ducking out of the car, waving at the scientist and the stuffed monkey he is still clinging onto.

“Thank you for today Hunter,” Fitz mutters sleepily, curling in on himself once he’s put his seatbelt on, “and thank you for winning me Gawain.”

“No problem Fitz, I had a great time and I’ll be eagerly awaiting your texts.”

Nodding at Jemma, Hunter makes his way back to his car, mulling over the name he’d given the toy. Getting into the driver’s seat, he asks Bobbi about the name and nearly jumps out of his skin when she starts cackling like a witch, turning bright red and breathless as she stares at the clueless man. Eventually she manages to sober up her laughter, by which point Jemma and Fitz are long gone and Hunter is heading back to their shared flat, fully intent on tuning the woman out.

“Christ Lance, do you really hate your name that much? It’s from the Knights of the Round Table, Lancelot and Gawain are part of King Arthur’s knights. It’s sweet when you think about it, he wanted to name it after you without explicitly naming it after you.”

He’ll refuse point blank to admit it to her, but Hunter can’t find it in himself to stop smiling at the revelation, regardless of annoying ex-fiancées finding humour in the situation. It’s like Bobbi said, it’s incredibly sweet and he finds himself even more eager to get to know the man and see where this new relationship goes, just as long as there are no more King Arthur references.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you all enjoyed! Let me know what you thought & come find me on [ Tumblr](https://acetoshikosato.tumblr.com/)! Thanks for reading!!
> 
> Jae <3


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